Toy typewriter



Oct 17, 1939.

Filed Nov. 5, 1934 A. E. OS\NALD 2,176769? Toy TYPEWRITER 5 Sheets-Sheet '1 &

A TTORNEY.

Oct. 17, 1939. A QSWALU 2,176,096

TOY TYPEWRITER Filed Nov. 3, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 SPACE BAR g INVEN Alfred E. Oswald.

& BY Q, 5

%RNEX 7 Oct. 17, 1 939. A OSWALD 2,176,096

T OY TYPEWRITER Filed Nov. 3, 1954 5 Shgets-Sheet a Hqa.

/N VE N TOR Alfred E. Oswald A T TORNE Y Oct. 17, 1939. At. OSWALD 2,176,096

/ TOY TYPEWRITER ,Filed Nov. 5, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 JNVENTOR. Alfred E. Oswald BY Q1 24 ATTORNEY.

got 'I'YPEWRITER Filed Nov. 3, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5v fig? INVENTOR. Alfred E, Oswald Patented Oct. 17, 1939 NETE El ST TES TOY T'YPEWRITER Alfred E. Oswald, Hackensack, N. J.; Elizabeth D. Oswald, administratrix of the estate of said Oswald, deceased Application November 3, 1934, Serial No. 751,293

17 Claims.

This invention relates to toy typewriters and has for its principal object to teach the location of the keys in the key board of a typewriting machine.

The device is in the nature of a novel printing press which in appearance resembles a portable typewriter; It includes a platen and a tray of printing elements, each printing element having a type and a character indicating member thereon, the character indicating members resembling the keys of a typewriter. The character indicating members are arranged in four banks and in the same order, with respect to each other, as the keys in the standard key board of a typewriting machine. There are four ink pads, one for each row of printing elements, with which the types of the printing elements engage while in the tray or rack. Each row of types is supported on a bar of the tray, said bar having transverse slots in which the printing elements are normally contained. The ink pad extends parallel to the bar which supports the printing elements and is located at the ends of the slots therein so that the types of the printing elements may readily'engage the pad. The printing elements are removable from the type tray and may be pressed against the platen to print against a work sheet thereon. 30 In front of the platen there are arranged novel means to guide the printing elements to the, platen and to locate them laterally so as to produce the proper letter spacing of the typing on the work sheet.

A feature of the invention relates to the means to indicate the letter space positions of the typing. 7 A. further feature relates to means including gauges to indicate the marginal ends of the lines 40 of typing.

A further feature of the invention relates to novel paper feeding and guiding means.

Another feature relates to unit assembly of the type tray and the platen supporting unit on a 45 main frame.

Still another feature of the invention relates to meanswhereby printing of upper or lower case types may be accomplished.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawings which form part of the specification:

Fig. 1 is a vertical, fore-and-aft section of the 55 device taken on the line I-l of Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the device partly broken away;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the device;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary, top plan View of a portion of the platen unit, showing the paper feedmg means;

Fig. 5 is a rear View of the tray which supports the printing elements;

Fig. 6 is a vertical section similar to Fig. 1 of another form of the invention and in which provision is made for printing with upper and lower case types; and

Fig. 7 is a side View showing a portion of the machine and one of the printing elements in a position to print with its upper case type.

Similar reference characters represent similar parts throughout the several views.

The device comprises three main units, namely a base unit or frame If], a platen supporting unit H and a tray or printing element supporting unit I2.

The base unit may be composed of a base plate I3, to which may be secured two side plates I4 and I5, and a rear plate IS. The base unit further includes a cross-bar I! secured at its opposite ends to the side plates l4 and [5. At the front the base plate is provided with a raised portion or strap ll which forms with the crossbar ll and the forward portions of the side walls, a pocket l8 into which the tray l2 may be inserted as hereinafter more clearly described.

The platen supporting unit II includes two end plates 19 and 20 joined to the opposite ends of cross-bars 2i and 22 being secured to the end plate 20 by screws 23 and 24 respectively, said cross-bars being secured to the plate IS in a similar manner. The platen supporting unit ll rests on the upper edges of the side plates I4 and I5, Fig. 3, and is located against the upper portion of the rear wall It, Fig. 1, said unit H being secured to the base unit In by screws 25 and 26 extending through the end plates l9 and 2t and threaded into lugs 21 and 28 on the side plates l4 and I5 of the base unit I0. 1

A platen 31] is located near the rear of the frame it and is rotatably supported in the end plates [9 and 20 by short shafts 3| and 32 secured to the platen in any suitable manner. These shafts have knobs 33 and 34 whereby the platen may be rotated to feed a work sheet 35 to line space it.

To assist in locating the platen in its various line space positions there is secured to the platen shaft 32 a toothed wheel 36 engaged by a detent spring 31 secured to the bar 22 by a screw 38.

To assist in feeding the work sheet 35 around the platen there are provided a plurality of leaf springs 46 which are anchored between the crossbar 2| and a superposed bar 42 secured to the cross-bar in any suitable manner such as nails 43 some of said nails passing through the ends of said springs as seen in Fig. 4. The forward ends of the springs 40 bear against the bar 22 so as to produce pressure of the springs against the platen 30 to cause the work sheet to grip the platen to be fed thereby while the platen is being rotated, the surfaces of the springs being so smooth as to oifer practically no resistance to the work sheet. A guard 44 assists in holding the work sheet against the front of the platen and prevents it from falling forward over the shelf 22.

The printing element supporting unit constitutes a tray 45 which is located near the forward part of the frame [6 and is composed of four parallel bars 46 suitably secured to each other and separated from each other by spacing blocks 46 at their ends and in the middle thereof, see Figs. 1 and 3. Bracket members 41 and 4'! are secured to uppermost and lowermost bars 46. These bracket portions engage the bar l1 and base plate I3 respectively to support the tray in the base unit.

The bars 45 extend from side to side of the device and each one is provided with a plurality of slots 48 which extend transversely of the bars. In each one of these slots there is located the body-part 45 of a printing element 50. Each printing element 56 is provided at one end with a type which may be composed of rubber and cemented on to the body-part. At its opposite end each body-part 49 is provided with a character indicating finger-piece 52 by which the printing element may be manipulated to remove it from the slot 48 when it is desired to print against the platen as hereinafter described, and to reinsert it into the slot 48 after printing.

Each bar 36 is also provided along one edge with a groove 53 into which the slots 48 extend so that the types 5| may engage an ink pad 54 located in the groove 53, each ink pad being secured to a strip 55 removable from the groove in a manner hereinafter described for the purpose of replenishing the ink pad. The three lower ink pads are held in the grooves by guards 56, see Figs. 1 and 5, which may be in the form of thin nails driven into the next adjacent bar 46. The upper ink pad is held in place by the bracket members ll and a bar 51 overlapping a portion of the upper one of the bars 46.

It will be understood that due to the stepped arrangement of the bars 48 with respect to each other that portions of the slots 48 which contain the printing elements extend beyond the next adjacent bar 45 or in other words are exposed. This arrangement makes it easy to insert the printing element in the slots.

To print on the work sheet 35 the finger-piece 52 of the printing element having the desired type is grasped to withdraw the printing element from its slot 48 of the bar 46. It is then placed on the bar or shelf 22, which is located between the type rack or tray 45 and the platen, and pushed rearwardly against the platen to print. After printing the printing element is removed from the shelf 22 and reinserted into the exposed portion of the slot 48 from which it was previously removed. The printing element is then pushed along in its slot until the type 5| engages the pad 54. The next character may then be printed, along side of the one previously printed,

in a similar manner. The bottom edges of types 5| are all the same distance above the shelf engaging faces of the body portions of the printing elements 50. Consequently there is produced perfect horizontal alignment of the printing on the work sheet.

To produce proper and accurate letter spacing of the printing on the work sheet there is provided suitable letter spacing means which includes a series of slots 60 on the shelf into any one of which a printing element may be inserted to guide it to the platen. The slots may be formed by thin metal partitions 6| which are forced into narrow slots extending from the upper surface bar 22 down thereinto.

The ends of the partitions nearest the platen are cut away at 63 so as not to obstruct the printing line. The combined effect of the cut off corners of the partitions serves as a line guide to assist in adjusting the work sheet to the writing line upon reinserting a printed work sheet around the platen and to render all of the typing visible.

To indicate the latter space position lengthwise of the platen there is provided a scale 64 which is located at the front end of the slots 60 and having graduation marks one at each slot.

Line end gauges 65 and 66 may be placed in any of the slots 65 to indicate left end of the line and the right end of the line.

By an inspection of Fig. 2 it will be seen that the character indicating finger-pieces 52 of the printing elements 50 are formed like the keys of a typewriting machine and they are arranged with respect to each other as the key board of a typewriting machine. Consequently by the repeated use of the various printing devices the operator is taught the position of the keys in a typewriting machine. A dummy back spacer key 61, dummy shift keys 68 and 69 and a dummy space bar are also provided to make the resemblance of a typewriter key board complete and to show location.

As previously stated the device includes three main units, namely the base unit It], the platen unit H and the printing element supporting unit l2. These units are assembled as previously described. The unit |2 may be held in the pocket l8, formed by the side walls l4 and I5 and the bar IT and strap H by a screw 14 and by the platen unit H, the bar 22 of which overlaps and engages the bar 57 of the unit l2.

Another form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 6and '7 and all of the parts, similar to those of Fig. 1, except those which are otherwise designated, have the same reference character with the super m added thereto. In this form of the invention each printing device 5|] is provided with two types, namely a lower case type and an upper case type 16. For convenience of manipulation the printing devices 5|) are vertically disposed in the rack I2 Thus to print with the lower case type 15 the finger-piece 52 of the printing element 50 is grasped by the fingers of the operator to lift the printing element out of its slot 48*. The lower end of the printing element is then swung upwardly and rearwardly towards the platen to a horizontal position. It is then placed in one of the slots 6(1 wherein it is guided towards the platen as it is pushed rearwardly to print. When it is desired to print with the upper case type 16 the printing device 5|] after removal thereof from the rack |2 is turned through 180 degrees until the character on the finger-piece 52 is upside down. The printing device is then changed to a horizontal position and is inserted into one of the guide slots 60* for printing.

The types 15 and 16 are rather close to each other and provision is therefor made to prevent printing with both types at one time. To this end there is provided a shield 11 which is composed of thin material and is interposed between the platen and the shelf 22 and is positioned so that its upper edge covers the lower type while printing with the upper type. Fig. 6 shows the upper case type 16 covered by the shield and lower case type i is about to print. In Fig. 7 the reverse condition is illustrated. In other words the lower case type is covered by the shield 11 so that the upper case type may print.

The shield may be composed of metal about .002 of an inch thick. It extends along the shelf 22 behind all of the guide slots 6|) and is supported on a bar 18 secured to the lower face of the shelf 22*. The shield normally stands clear of the platen 30 and is resilient to yield under the pressure of the printing element 59 during a printing operation. The shield is also provided with a series of slots '19 through which the ends of the paper feed springs 46* reach for engagement with the shelf '22.

As previously stated the printing devices 50. are positioned so that their indicating fingerpie'ces 52 are arranged in the same order as the keys in the key board of a standard typewriter. It should be understood however, that the device lends itself readily to any other arrangement. It should also be understood that the device further lends itself readily to substitution of its printing devices by others having different styles of types or types of other languages.

Although the device of the present invention has been described as a toy typewriter it will be understood that it has other uses.

While certain preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be understood that changes in the form, arrangements, proportions, sizes and details therein may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a stationary platen, detached types to print against the front of said platen, and stationary means juxtaposed at the platen and extending parallel from end to end thereof, said stationary means having a series of adjacent horizontally extending slots thereon open at their upper ends, each slot extending rearwardly towards said platen, there being one slot for each letter space, any one of said types being insertable into any one of the slots to be guided thereby to the platen, said stationary means being clear of the line of vision of the operator to the printing line.

2. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, detached types to print against said platen, a horizontal shelf extending along the platen from end to end thereof, a series of partitions on said shelf to assist in guiding the types to the platen, the edges nearest the platen of said partitions serving as a line gauge for the typing on the work sheet.

3. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, detached types to print against said platen, and means positioned close to the platen and extending parallel from end to end thereof, said means having a series of adjacent slots thereon, each slot extending towards said platen there being one slot for each letter space, any one of said types being insertable into any one of the slots to be guided thereby to the platen, said means serving also as a line gauge for the printing line on the work sheet to assist in locating the Work sheet in its line space position.

4. In a printing device, the combination of a row of removable types, a holder therefor, an ink pad extending from end to end of said holder and in contact with said types, said pad being removable for the purpose of replenishing, and a support for said holder, said support being effective to prevent removal of said pad while said holder is on said support.

5. In a printing device, the combination of printing elements each having an upper case type and a lower case type thereon, a platen against which either type of any one of the printing elements may print, a bar extending along the platen to guide the printing element to the platen in any one of a plurality of positions lengthwise of said bar, and a shield extending along the edge of said bar and effective in any position lengthwise of said bar to prevent one of the types from printing while the other one is printing.

6. A printing device including a base unit, a platen supporting unit, a printing element supporting unit, means to locate the printing element supporting unit on the base unit, means to locate the platen unit on said base unit, and means to secure said platen supporting unit on said base supporting unit, said platen supporting unit assisting to hold the printing element supporting unit on the base unit;

'7. A rack for supporting printing elements including a plurality of parallel bars, one face of each bar having slots therein extending towards the next adjacent bar, and a removable printing element in each slot, the next adjacent bar assisting to hold the printing elements in the slots.

8. A rack for supporting printing elements including a plurality of parallel bars, one face of each bar having slots therein extending towards the next adjacent bar, a removable printing element in each slot, the next adjacent bar assisting to hold the printing elements in the slots, each bar having a groove extending along its edge and transversely of the slots so that the ends of said slots run into said groove, types on the ends of all of the printing elements, and an ink pad in each groove and with which the types engage.

9. A rack for supporting printing elements including a plurality of parallel bars one face of each bar having slots therein extending towards the next adjacent bar, a removable printing element in each slot, the next adjacent bar assisting to hold the printing elements in the slots, said bars being arranged in step like formation so as to expose portions of the slots of one bar beyond the edge of the next adjacent bar so that the printing elements may be readily inserted into said slots.

10. A printing element having a body-part, two types at one end of the body-part, namely an upper case type and a lower case type and a character indicating finger-piece at the opposite end of the body-part, one of the types being placed upside down with respect to the other and with respect to the character on the finger-piece.

11. In a front strike typewriting machine, the combination of a rotatable cylindrical platen around which a work sheet may be placed, detached types to print against said platen, means having a long flat bearing surface extending towards the platen, said means extending parallel to the platen close thereto and from end to end of the printing line so that a type may be placed thereon to be guided thereby in a definite plane when the type is moved rearwardly to the platen to thus insure alignment of the printed characters, said means being fixed relatively to said platen, and means cooperating with said platen while the platen is being rotated to assist in feeding the work sheet in a line space direction.

12. In a printing device, the combination of a non-traveling platen, types to print against the front of said platen, and stationary means extending along said platen and having a plurality of adjacent horizontally disposed slots open at their upper ends, there being one slot for each letter space position, each slot being open at the top so that any one of the types may be inserted vertically from above, each slot being formed by a floor and two side walls to guide the type perpendicularly and horizontally to the platen, said slots being also effective to accurately space the characters as they are printed on a work sheet on the platen.

13. In a typewriting machine, the combination of frame, a platen supported by the rear portion of said frame, a type rack supported by the forward portion of said frame, removable types carried by said type rack to print against said platen, and means between said platen and said type rack whereby any one of the types may be aligned both horizontally and vertically prior to printing against the platen and whereby the types are guided horizontally to the platen, said means being located clear of the line of vision to the printing point.

14. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a frame, a platen supported by the rear portion of said frame a type rack supported by the forward portion of said frame, removable types carried by said type rack to print against said platen, a shelf located at the front of the platen and at the rear of said type rack so that any one of the types may be removed from the rack and moved rearwardly over said shelf to print against said platen, and a series of partitions extending upwardly from said shelf and forming with said shelf a series of slots into any one of which any one of the types may be inserted to be guided thereby to the platen.

15. In a printing device, the combination of a frame, a platen on said frame, a type rack on said frame and located at the front of said platen, removable types on said type rack to print against said platen, said rack having a series of slots extending toward the platen so that any one of the types may be guided by any one of the slots to print against the front of the platen, and a scale extending along the series of slots to indicate the letter space position of said slots.

16. In a typewriting machine, the combination of a platen, removable type to print against said platen, an element against which any one of the types may be placed to guide them individually to the platen, and partitions on said element to form guide slots for the types, each partition having its end nearest the platen cut away diagonally so as to render visible the printing line.

17. In a printing device, the combination of a plurality of rows of types, said rows of types being staggered with reference to each other, a holder for said types, said holder having a plurality of rows of slots, one of the types in each slot, and a plurality of ink pads one for each row of types, each pad being located at a different level than that of each of the other pads and extending along one row of types and being located at the ends of the slots and in contact with the types.

ALFRED E. OSWALD. 

